UK's CMA proposes to designate Microsoft with strategic market status in business software ecosystem
MSFT•The UK's CMA proposed designating Microsoft with strategic market status in business software and said it would investigate software bundling, AI tool choice, security products and cloud licensing. It found Microsoft has a strong position across five areas of digital activity, supported by switching barriers and integration advantages.
1. CMA proposes designation
The UK's CMA proposed designating Microsoft with strategic market status in its business software ecosystem. The regulator plans to probe Microsoft's software bundling and assess whether customers can choose AI tools, security products and cloud providers freely, and whether alternative AI providers can compete fairly with Copilot.
2. Regulator's findings
The CMA said Microsoft has a strong position across each of the five areas of digital activity it investigated. It found switching barriers and integration advantages create barriers for other software developers.
